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5.5 bln people has limited or no access to pain relief medication: INCB

Xinhua, March 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) on Tuesday warned that three quarters of the world or an estimated 5.5 billion people worldwide have limited or no access to pain relief medications, a UN spokesperson said here.

"According to the INCB Annual Report for 2014, which was released Tuesday, around 92 percent of morphine used worldwide is consumed by only 17 percent of the world population," Vannina Maestracci, the associate UN spokesman, said here at a daily news briefing.

"The INCB added that governments have an obligation to address the discrepancy in the availability of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances for medical and scientific purposes," she said.

The report also pointed out that natural disasters and armed conflicts can further limit access to essential medicines, and reiterated that under international humanitarian law, parties to armed conflicts have to allow access to medicines and medical care for the civilians in territories under their control.

INCB is the independent and quasi-judicial control organ for the implementation of the United Nations drug conventions. It plays an important role in monitoring enforcement of restrictions on narcotics and psychotropics and in deciding which precursors should be regulated. Endite